Winter Romance Story (Writing Entry Contest)

Winter Romance:

Melanie Harper was a lonely young woman. She was mostly shy, but spoke boldly when spoken to. She worked at the local library of the small town she was born in. Her parents had died when she was only fourteen and she stayed in the house by herself for years. No one sent her to the orphanage or foster care. She always wondered why none of her parent's family came to rescue her after her parents were killed in a train accident.

She had barely turned fourteen and was walking home from school when a policeman pulled his car up next to her. It was a small town and everybody knew everyone. Even though her parents were missionaries and traveled a lot, they made sure that Melanie was taken care of by the maid, Willie Mae. She thought that when they died, her job was over. In fact, one of Melanie's relatives gave her a check saying that she needed to move on. Little did they know that there was a will hidden in the house that would supply Willie Mae with not only an income, but it requested that she move in with Melanie and take care of her and stay her friend.

Willie Mae kept in touch with Melanie, dropping by to see if she was okay, but she soon had a family of her own to care for, so she had to work and help support her children. Her visits became less and less often as the years passed. She tried to get Melanie to move in with her, but by then, she was very independent and liked staying where she was raised.

Now, as she was about to turn twenty-two, she sat on the front window seat, peering out of the window at the falling snow. It was getting colder and she needed to go to the barn and get some wood. She had already fed her horse and the other animals, but she hated carrying the heavy firewood to the house. She always tried to keep enough on the porch to supply her need.

She began to recall when she was younger. Her parents hated banks and kept most of their money in the house. She had known where all of their hiding places were. Her parents were rather wealthy, but she never knew where the money came from. They never acted like rich people, but they did spoil her a little when she was small. After they died, she had to learn to do without a lot of the luxuries that she was use to. Still, there was enough money to keep her fed and warm over the years. She decided to get a job because she loved reading and she had read every book in the house. That was why she visited the library one day when she was only fifteen.
Now, as Melanie sat at the window, she realized that today was not going to be a very good weather day. The snow was coming down like a blizzard and the wind was getting so sharp that her neighbor was almost knocked over as she walked down her drive to get her paper out of the box. She finally realized that she was not going to be able to get to work when she heard the warning on television. Schools were shut down and that meant that the library would be, as well. She hated not being able to go to work.

A knock came on the door while she was in deep thought. She wondered who was traveling in such terrible weather, but assumed it must be a neighbor instead. She opened the door expecting to see a familiar face, but instead it was a stranger. ???Oh, my!???

???I am sorry,??? The young man apologized for startling her. ???I am so lost and now my truck is stuck in the ditch. Can I please use your phone????

???Don't you have a cell phone???? She was not use to strangers.

???It died,??? He held it toward her to show her. ???Really, it did. You can check if you want.???

???What does that prove???? She snapped. ???You are a stranger and I do not let strangers in my house.???

She stared into his eyes. He was shivering from the cold and his voice was trembling. She was usually very tender-hearted, so she felt compassion for him and told him to come inside. She told him that she had a weapon, so he had better be for real. He reassured her that he was.He made a call and while he was on the phone, he asked her if it was okay to give her number to the towing company so they could call him back. They had to make sure the roads would be clear enough to travel and let him know. She said it was okay. She told him to have a seat and she fixed some coffee. He drank it rather quickly so she got him another cup. It took an hour for them to call back and they informed him,Tyler explained that his grandfather had moved here to marry a past love. When he told her the woman's name, Melanie was amazed. It was a previous librarian who retired to get married again. She knew her very well and even remembered meeting her new husband. Now, she could see the big picture. She had attended that wedding and the older man had even told her about his nephew. She was recalling the story that he told her.

Tyler was married to his high-school sweetheart. They had dated since they were in the eighth grade. His grandfather had lost his wife years ago and was finally on his way to meet an old school friend. He wanted Tyler to move with him after Tyler's wife passed away. His grandfather had been traveling back and forth helping him with the bills. He was a good man and would never desert his nephew. That is why when Tyler's wife became sick.

Tyler had married his high school sweetheart right after school was out. She became very ill at age 19. Tyler stuck by her, but she finally passed away almost two years ago. He had never gotten over it, so his grandfather insisted that he finish his college right here. He was reluctant to leave the home that he lived with his wife. He finally knew it was time for a change. Before he could get ready to move, his grandfather died, leaving him a nice home in the north. He bought it for him as a gift. He left a nice trust fund, as well. That was all very nice, but he missed his grandfather very much. He had planned to visit Lily and try and capture memories of his grandfather, but the storm had detoured him, so he was headed to his new home.

Tyler and Melanie connected that night. It was a winter romance for them. It was Melanie's only romance. They fell in love that night. They snuggled and kept each other warm, but Melanie had never been with anybody. She wanted to save herself for her husband. Tyler understood and showed her the highest respect. They fell even more in love and did not even care about the blizzard very much.thought he could love again, but Melanie was so much like his late wife. She had high ideals and morals. Those were the things he loved his wife for more than anything. He was so happy to be stuck inside and amazed that he had fallen in love again. He had never had such a winter romance in his life. He was used to the warm or hot weather since he was born and lived in Georgia and even Florida. As he reached over to kiss Melanie, she shied away at first, but gave in with a gentle kiss in return.

Melanie had heard her friend at the library talk about winter romances many times, but she never thought she would be the one having one. She was glad she stayed in her nice cozy house. She was even glad that there was a blizzard. A winter romance is something Melanie had only read about in her many books.

Tyler and Melanie's winter romance was the talk of the town when they both walked out of Melanie's door when the fire department rescued them. No other house was buried completely like hers. It was because the mountain right above her house somehow dumped a lot of snow on top of her house. The blizzard was bad, but it was not as bad as they thought it would be. When the neighbor reported that Melanie's house was buried, it probably saved their lives in the long run, but as far as the two of them were concerned, they could have stayed stranded for another few days.

A wedding took place in the big celebration hall downtown. They had only known each other for two weeks when they married. Tyler's step-grandmother was surprised when he told her their story, but she knew about winter romances and she appreciated ???love at first sight.??? It had happened to her many years ago in high school. It was only because of her parents moving up north that kept her and Tyler's grandfather from staying together when they were teens. Of course, his grandfather and Lily had a great marriage for years with their late spouses, but Lily will tell anyone that when they ran into each other that day at the airport in Georgia several years ago, it was love at first sight again. They fell in love all over again on a winter day, a day when snow had hit Georgia by surprise and snowed in the flight.

Winter romances is what Melanie titled her book series that she began writing only a month after her marriage. She wrote one story after another of Winter romances and all of them were true. She based them on her own experience and Lily's and almost every other member of her small town in the far north. The name of the town? Romance City was the name, of course. It lived up to the name over and over again. If anyone does not believe it, just ask Tyler and Melanie Winters.